Pentecost: Filled with the Spirit

Pentecost weekend was filled with the excitement of the Holy Spirit and launched St. Martin’s into summer with an exuberant spirit!

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ~Acts 2:1-3

Everyone got into the spirit of things, and it was bouncy, joyful, celebratory day. The church was filled with red – people wore red, there were red helium balloons. There was so much motion – red helium balloons jostling at the end of pews, incense being swung, a dove-shaped liturgical kite with red streamers swooping above the congregation during processions. Everything you saw really drew you into the feeling of the day.

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All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.~Acts 2:4

What you heard drew you in and shook you about, too. We heard scripture readings in different languages, and we read the psalm in alternating languages. Father Scot celebrated the Mass in French and English – you don’t have to wonder what that was like, listen to it.

Summer Children’s Chapel kicked off

Kids had some special fun, too. Summer Children’s Chapel kicked off with a Bible reading, children’s sermon and activities that ignited children’s curiosity about the Holy Spirit. Children made flaming prayer sticks and towering red hats. The children were asked to think about how they can respond to the Holy Spirit with their own unique gifts.

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Children saw that the Holy Spirit is like someone tugging you in all sorts of different directions. Sometimes it is not the path you would choose. My hope is that children see that they are uniquely created in God’s image…they are also asked to respond to God in a way that uses their God-given gifts of the Spirit. They have so much to offer to the world. ~Children & Youth Minister, Corrie Cabes